Category: Videos

I haven’t been playing a ton of shows recently while I’ve been working on writing a book, but Jamie DeWolf gave me a microphone at Tourettes Without Regrets in Oakland last month and today I discovered there’s video evidence! Here’s my little lighthearted, dark-humored ukulele tune, “Don’t Know Much About Star Wars” that both is and is not about Star Wars, including a new verse I wrote for the occasion. (Thanks to Kenny Hoff for the vid!)

A song that’s kind of but also not about Star Wars. (Lyrics & credits below)

Words/music/art/sketch videos by Emily Yates
Performance video/audio recording & video editing by Sobokeh
Originally written for and performed at Tourettes Without Regrets, Oakland CA

Lyrics:
I wish I knew more about Star Wars than real wars
I wish I knew more about Jedi than drones
I wish I knew more about Obi Wan
Than about the civilians we’ve recently bombed
Oh I wish I knew more about Star Wars than real wars

When you mention the Force, you think Skywalker
I think of our air force exploding Iraq or Afghanistan
And I don’t know much about Star Wars
But I think we might be on the Dark Side

Oh I wish I knew more about Star Wars than class war
I wish I knew more about droids than gentrification
I wish I knew more about Luke and Leia
Than about a health-care plan that screws the single payer
Oh I wish I knew more about Star Wars than class war

When you mention the Empire you think Darth Vader
I think of our government shamelessly catering to the elite
And I don’t know much about Star Wars
But I think we might be the Empire

And I don’t mind if you’re a walking Wookieepedia
If you’ve got trivia dripping right off of your clothes
Just ask anybody in the media
These other wars have endless episodes

Oh I wish I knew more about Star Wars than drug war
I wish I knew more about clone attacks than crack
I wish I knew more about Kylo Ren
Than about marijuana growers stuck in the pen
Oh I wish I knew more about Star Wars than drug war

When you mention a smuggler you think Han Solo
I think of rich white boys smuggling blow, though
And getting away
And I don’t know much about Star Wars
No I don’t know much about Star Wars
Oh, truly I don’t know much about Star Wars
But I wish I knew less about real wars

Co-written with Jefferson Bergey, featuring Erik Yates on guitar and vocals for this performance (12/9, Point Richmond CA). Lyrics below the vid!

We’re your first-world responders
We will pack your bowl
We will fetch more ice
When your drink is not so cold
As long as your problems
Are petty and small
We’re your first-world responders
We’re at your beck and call

I just can’t find a yoga outfit that fits
Reception on my cell phone sucks at this Ritz
My streaming movies aren’t loading
What is ‘buffer’?!?!
Don’t try to say I don’t know what it’s like to suffer

We’re your first-world responders
We will pack your bowl
We will fetch more ice
When your drink is not so cold
As long as your problems
Are petty and small
We’re your first-world responders
We’re at your beck and call

I can’t find parking in the Whole Foods parking lot
I just can’t take a decent nap on this yacht
Why do the waiters always have to be so rude
Each time I tell them I’m allergic to food

We’re your first-world responders
We will pack your bowl
We will fetch more ice
When your drink is not so cold
As long as your problems
Are petty and small
We’re your first-world responders
We’re at your beck and call

Where is the fire?
There is no fire
It only exists in your mind

We’re your first-world responders
We will pack your bowl
We will fetch more ice
When your drink is not so cold
As long as your problems
Are petty and small
We’re your first-world responders
We’re at your beck and call

IT’S HERE! Ever since I released Folk In Your Face, I’ve been wanting to make a video for “I’d Rather Be High (Than An Asshole)” and now here it finally is – directed by Jamie DeWolf, featuring some of my favorite Bay Area performers! I wrote this song because not only did marijuana help me quit smoking cigarettes after I got out of the military, it also helped me deal with PTSD and generally be less of an asshole. Video & track credits below. Get the song here!

Two years ago today, I was standing trial in Philadelphia, having being violently arrested and jailed by some adorable-looking park rangers near the Liberty Bell the summer before. I’d been waiting in the 90º shade to play my song “I’d Rather Be High (Than An Asshole)” at a marijuana legalization demonstration later in the afternoon. The rangers had aggressively taken me down after refusing to tell me the reason they were clearing the park, and I later found out it was because they were using that area to process the herb they’d seized from demonstrators. The deep irony of the arrest – that I’d been prevented from playing this song due to the rangers being assholes about a marijuana demonstration – inspired me to release this video today, on the second anniversary of my conviction. And hey, Californians will be voting tomorrow on cannabis legalization! WHAT A COINCIDENCE.